Rotary broom for material handling



April 25, 1967 E. H. FISHER 3,315,381

7 ROTARY BROOM FOR MATERIAL HANDLING Filed on. 28, 1963 3 Sheets-Shet 1 INVENTOR E. H. FISHER A ril 25, 1967 E. H. FISHER 3,315,381

ROTARY BROOM FOR MATERIAL HANDLING Filed Oct. 28, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 62 48 Q. 7 44 K56 5G l/vl Elw'ok E. H. FISHER A77ORNE is April 25, 1967 E. H. FISHER 3,315,381

ROTARY BROOM FOR MATERIAL HANDLING Filed Oct. 28, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Egg INVENTOR 87 E. H. FISHER ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,315,381 Patented Apr. 25, 1967 3,315,381 ROTARY BROOM FOR MATERIAL HANDLING Earl H. Fisher, 630 Casgrain Ave., St. Lambert, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Filed Oct. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 319,611 Claims priority, application Canada, Sept. 6, .1963, 884,020 6 Claims. (Cl. 37-24) This invention relates to an improved rotary broom for moving snow, ballast or similar materials, and more particularly to a rotary broom assembly which can be attached to an existing vehicle and can be readily transferred from one vehicle to another, as occasion demands.

A specific purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved, low cost, rotary broom for removing snow from railroad yard switch tracks.

Most of the equipment at present in use for achieving this purpose consists of two-part rotary broom units which require attachment to very heavy vehicles with flanged wheels for running on railroad tracks. A well known two-part rotary broom unit consists of a rotary broom having flexible flails for driving the snow into a positive displacement screw conveyor which carries the snow away.

This equipment has many limitations and disadvantages some of which being that it is often necessary to move rolling stock off the tracks to clear the way and allow the equipment to move from switch to switch, and also that the initial purchase price of the rotary broom attachments is comparatively very high.

The present invention overcomes these limitations by providing a simplified rotary broom assembly which can be easily attached to a wide variety of conveyances, such as pneumatic tired vehicles with front-end loaders, as well as railroad flanged wheel equipment.

An advantage with this invention is that when at tached to pneumatic tired vehicles, the broom assembly can be moved from switch to switch without monopolizing railroad tracks.

Another advantage is that the simplified broom assembly is economical to produce and, because of its facility in attaching to a variety of conveyances, does not require that expensive attachments be purchased or that expensive vehicles be monopolized for the specific purpose of clearing snow from switch tracks.

The rotary broom assembly according to the basic form of the present invention includes a support frame structure and an impeller assembly, the impeller assembly being rotatably mounted between the end frames of the support frame structure. The support frame structure can be easily adapted to be mounted on any suitable conveyance and the impeller assembly can be driven by any suitable means, such as a separate gasoline or diesel engine, electric, air, or hydraulic motor mounted on the frame structure, or a power take-ofl drive on the conveyor. The impeller assembly consists of a central shaft with flexible blades extending radially outwards from the shaft and positioned to form a spiral line around the shaft.

The flexible blades are set at a predetermined angle relative to the shaft axis, such that rotation of the shaft will cause the impeller to act as a fan or screw conveyor.

The preferred and alternative executions of the present invention include axial flow fans positioned at each end of the impeller assembly and driven from the same power source, and acting to add to the action of the impeller assembly.

It is, therefore, the main object of the present invention to provide an improved rotary broom for moving snow, ballast or similar materials, from railroad yard switch tracks and other applications.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved rotary broom which can be attached to a wide variety of conveyances and can be easily transferred from one conveyance to another.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved rotary broom assembly which is of simplified and economical construction.

These and other objects of this invention will be apparent by reference to the following detailed specification and figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a rotary broom assembly, according to the basic execution of this invention, shown mounted on a tractor with front-end loader and driven by a separate gas or diesel engine.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, to an enlarged scale, of the rotary broom assembly as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation taken in the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the broom impeller assembly, showing the preferred arrangement for attaching impeller blades to the impeller shaft.

FIG. 5 is a plan elevation taken in the direction of arrow 5 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an end elevation, similar to FIG. 3, but showing the preferred execution of this invention in which two axial flow fans are incorporated, one at each end of the broom impeller and mounted on separate axes.

FIG. 7 is an end elevation similar to FIG. 6, but showing an alternative execution of this invention in which two axial flow fans are incorporated, one at each end of the broom impeller and rotatably mounted on the axis of the impeller.

FIG. 8 is a rear end elevation of the rotary broom assembly shown in FIG. 6 with the drive unit removed and showing the means for attaching the broom assembly to various forms of conveyances.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation taken in the direction of arrow 9 in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of a rotary broom assembly, according to a further alternative execution of this invention, shown mounted on a tractor and driven from a power take-off drive on the tractor.

FIG. 11 is an end elevation taken in the direction of arrow 11 in FIG. 10.

. With particular reference now to the figures, in which like numerals represent like parts throughout, FIG. I s a side elevation of a rotary broom assembly, generally indicated at 21, shown attached to the front-end loader 22 of pneumatic tired tractor 23.

Front-end loader 22 comprises main boom arms 24,

pivotally mounted between boom arms 24, and levers 27 pivotally mounted at one end to the forked ends of forked lever 26 and at the other ends to the lower mounting bar 28 on broom assembly 21. Two hydraulic cylinders 29 are mounted one on each side of tractor 23 and operate to raise and lower rotary broom assembly 21, and a hydraulic cylinder 30, through levers 27, operates to maintain rotary broom assembly 21 in a vertical position. 1

FIGS. 2 and 3 are side and end elevations respectively of the basic execution of this invention in which a gasoline engine 31 is mounted on the upper surface of support frame structure 32 and, through transmission 33, drive-shaft 34 and layshaft 35, rotates impeller assembly 36 at reduced speed of revolution. Drive-shaft 34 is supported by bearing 37 and layshaft is supported by bearings 38, bearings 37 and 38 being mounted on the upper surface of support frame structure 32. Sprocket 39 on layshaft 35 is driven by sprocket 40 on drive-shaft 34 through chain 41 and sprocket 42 on stub axle 43 of impeller shaft 44 is driven by sprocket 45 on layshaft 35 through chain 46.

Stub axles 43 of impeller shaft 44 are rotatably mounted in bearings 47 mounted on the side frames of support frame structure 32.

Flexible impeller blades 48 are adjustabliy positioned to form a spiral line around impeller shaft 44.

Impeller shroud 49 is positioned on the inside of support frame structure 32 close to the periphery of impeller assembly 36, and incorporates an adjustable portion 50. The side frames of support frame structure 32 are enclosed with sheet metal. In FIG 3 impeller shroud 49 and adjustable portion 50 are omitted for clarity.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of impeller assembly 36 showing the preferred method for adjustably attaching flexible blades 48 to impeller shaft 44 Stub shafts 51 are positioned around impeller shaft 44 in spiral formation, or other arrangement as required; Flexible blades 48, which are made from rubber belting or other suitable material, are attached to anchor plates 52 using bolts and nuts 53. The assemblies of flexible blades 48 and anchor plates 52 are thenattached to stub shafts 51 using two U-bolts 54 for each blade. Stop 55 are welded to the ends of each stub shaft 51, to retain the blade assemblies on stub shafts 51, should U-bolts 54 become loose.

FIG. is a plan elevation taken in the direction of arrow 5 in FIG. 3 and shows the attachment of rotary broom assembly 21 to front-end loader 22.

FIG. 6 is an end elevation, similar to FIG. 3, but showing the preferred execution of this invention, again with impeller shroud 4'9 and adjustable portion 50 omitted for clarity.

This execution is similar to the basic execution shown in FIG. 3 except that two axial flow fans have been added, one at each end of impeller assembly 36. Axial flow impeller fan 56 is positioned at the input end, and forward of, impeller assembly 36 (see FIG. 9) and is rotatably mounted on fixed shaft 57. Impeller fan 56 is driven from layshaft 35 by sprocket 58 on lay-shaft 35, chain 59 and sprocket 60 on impeller fan 56. Impeller fan 56 is driven at a higher speed than impeller assembly 36. Fan shroud 61 is attached to the input side frame of support frame structure 32 and surrounds impeller fan 56.

Axial flow extracter fan 62 is positioned at the output end, and forward of, impeller assembly 36 and is rotatably mounted on fixed shaft 63. Extracter fan 62 is driven at the same speed as impeller fan 56 from sprocket 64, on drive-shaft 34, through chain 65 and sprocket 66 on extracter fan 62. Fan shroud 67 is attached to the output side frame of support frame structure 32 and surrounds extracter fan 62.

This execution can also be used with only one axial fan positioned at either end of impeller assembly 36, preferably at the output end.

FIG. 7 is an end elevation, similar to FIG. 6, but showing an alternative execution of this invention in which impeller and extracter fans 56 and 62 respectively are positioned within the support frame structure 32 and mounted to freely rotate on stub axles 43. Impeller fan 56 is driven from layshaft 35 by sprocket 68 on layshaft 35, chain 69 and sprocket 70 on impeller fan 56. Extracter fan 62 is driven from layshaft 35 by sprocket 71 on layshaft 35, chain 72 and sprocket 73 on extracter fan 62. In this execution impeller and extracter fans 56 and 62 respectively again run at a higher speed than impeller assembly 36 and again impeller shroud 49 and adjustable portion 50 are omitted for clarity.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are rear and side elevations respectively of the preferred execution of this invention as shown in FIG. 6, but with the engine 31 and transmission 33 omitted and showing in detail the means for attaching the broom assembly to various typesof conveyances.

Support frame structure 32, which is mainly of steel angle welded construction, comprises input and output end frames 74 and 75 respectively, connected at the rear by rear cross members 76 and at the front by front cross members 77. Fixed support plates 7 8 are welded to rear cross members 76 and adjustable support plates 79 are adjustably attached to rear cross members 76. Upper mounting bars 25 are positioned between lugs 80 on adjustable support plates 79 and lugs 81 on fixed support plates 78. Lower mounting bar 28 is positioned between mounting plates 82, which are welded to fixed support plates 78.

Upper and lower support bars 25 and 28 respectively are used to attach the broom assembly to front-end loaders of varying types, with the adjustable support plates 79 allowing attachment of main boom arms having vary ing distances between them. An additional lower support bar 83 and a support pin 84 are provided for further varia-- tion in the dimensions of front-end loaders and other con veyance attachment points.

It is thus seen that with the latitude provided by the support bars and with simple additional lugs as required, the rotary broom assembly 21 can be attached to, and readily removed from, a wide variety of conveyances.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are side and end elevations respective= ly of a further execution of this invention. In this execu= tion the rotary broom assembly, shown generally'at 85, is attached to a pneumatic tired tractor 86 and the impeller asembly 87 is rotated from a power take-off drive 88 on tractor 86, through a speed and direction changer 89. Speed and direction changer 89 and the supports for broom assembly are mounted on platform 90 attached to the front of tractor 86.

Impeller assembly 87 is two-directional and comprises impeller shaft 91 supported at each end by stub shafts 92 which are rotatably mounted in bearings 47 mounted on the side frames of support frame structure 32.

Rotation of impeller assembly 87 is provided by a sprocket 93 on right-angle output shaft 94 of speed changer 89, chain 95 and sprocket 96 positioned on impeller shaft 91 midway between the ends.

Flexible impeller blades 48 are adjustably positioned to form two spiral lines extending outwardly clockwise and counter-clockwise from the midway point of impeller shaft 91 and the blade angles are adjusted to provide fan or screw conveyor action with output at each end of the broom assembly. Blades 48 are attached to impeller shaft 91 in a similar manner to the method of attachment shown in FIG. 4.

In the operation of the basic execution of this inven= tion impeller assembly 36 rotates counter-clockwise as shown in FIG. 2. Due to the angle of blades 48 relative to the axis of impeller shaft 44 the impeller assembly 36 acts as both a screw conveyor and a fan, with the blades impacting and picking up the snow and moving the snow axially towards the left-hand side output, as shown in FIG. 3, and with the blast of air created by the blades aiding and blowing the snow axially towards the left-handside.

In the preferred execution of this invention the action of impeller assembly 36 is the same as in the basic execution, but is aided by the axial flow impeller fan 56 which creates an additional air blast in the direction of snow movement and by axial flow extractor fan 62 which creates a suction to effectively expel the snow.

The execution shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 operates in the same manner as the previously mentioned executions, except that the snow is expelled from both ends of the rotary broom.

The previously mentioned executions incorporating axial flow impeller and extractor fans can be modified, if necessary, to include one axial fan only, either an extractor fan or an impeller fan.

For additional effectiveness in clearing out or loosening snow, etc., in confined spaces, additional flails, made from discarded air-line hose or the like, may be attached to the impeller assembly and interspaced between the blades. The flails will penetrate the confined spaces and loosen the snow, which will then be removed by the impeller assembly. The flails may be longer than the impeller blade lengths if necessary.

' In removing hard packed snow from rail surfaces impeller assemblies with modified blades may be used, the blades having rubber strips attached to the trailing edges of the impact edges of the blades.

This invention may be used for a variety of functions other than sweeping, an example of its versatility being to extend the impeller shroud to totally surround the impeller assembly, to attach a bag to the outlet end and, by attaching a hose to the inlet end, using the suction effect of the rotating impeller to operate the arrangement as a suction cleaner.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary broom assembly including a support frame structure having an open bottom and an impeller assembly rotatably mounted therein, a shroud attached to said support frame structure and extending at least partially around the periphery of said impeller assembly, axial flow fan means rotatably mounted on each end of said support frame structure, and drive means for rotating said impeller assembly and said axial flow fan means, said impeller assembly including an impeller shaft with a plurality of impeller blades of flexible material adjustably positioned thereon and extending radially outwards therefrom, said blades having a length such that they extend below said support frame structure through said open bottom, each of said blades being adjusted to predetermined angles relative to the axis of said impeller shaft, said support frame structure including a top frame, a rear frame, two side frames and support bars attached to said rear frame for mounting said rotary broom assembly onto a means of conveyance, said drive means including an engine mounted on said top frame.

2. In a rotary side sweeping broom, the combination of a supporting frame having an open bottom, a horizontal shaft rotatably journalled in said frame, means for rotating said shaft, and a set of elongated sweeper blades of flexible material secured at circumferentially and longitudinally spaced points to said shaft and extending radially therefrom, said blades being of such length as to project downwardly through the open bottom of said supporting frame and engage material below the frame with a flexible sweeping action, said blades having flat surfaces disposed obliquely to the axis of said shaft and oriented toward one end of the shaft whereby material swept by the flexible blades may be simultaneously side delivered by the oblique blade surfaces and impelled laterally toward said one end of the shaft.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 together with means for adjustably securing said blades to said shaft whereby to vary the angular disposition of said oblique blade surfaces relative to the axis of the shaft.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the circumferential and longitudinal spacing of said blades provides an effective spiral alignment of the blades around said shaft.

'5. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 together with axial flow fan means provided at least at one side of said supporting frame to assist said flexible blades in laterally impelling the material toward said one end of said shaft, and means for driving said fan means.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 together with a circumferentially adjustable shroud mounted on said supporting frame above said blades.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,695,775 12/1928 Musil et al 37-43 1,807,489 5/ 1931 Middleton et al 37-43 X 2,603,007 7/1952 Fiacco 37-43 2,941,223 6/1960 Klauer 37-43 X 3,034,236 5/1962 'Pyke 37-25 3,136,556 6/1964 Wilkes et a1 172-45 X 3,181,258 5/1965 Duncan 37-144 FOREIGN PATENTS 70,356 12/ 1941 Czechoslavakia.

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

H. L. HOLLISTER, Assistant Examiner. 

2. IN A ROTARY SIDE SWEEPING BROOM, THE COMBINATION OF A SUPPORTING FRAME HAVING AN OPEN BOTTOM, A HORIZONTAL SHAFT ROTATABLY JOURNALLED IN SAID FRAME, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID SHAFT, AND A SET OF ELONGATED SWEEPER BLADES OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL SECURED AT CIRCUMFERENTIALLY AND LONGITUDINALLY SPACED POINTS TO SAID SHAFT AND EXTENDING RADIALLY THEREFROM, SAID BLADES BEING OF SUCH LENGTH AS TO PROJECT DOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE OPEN BOTTOM OF SAID SUPPORTING FRAME AND ENGAGE MATERIAL BELOW THE FRAME WITH A FLEXIBLE SWEEPING ACTION, SAID BLADES HAVING FLAT SURFACES DISPOSED OBLIQUELY TO THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT AND ORIENTED TOWARD ONE END OF THE SHAFT WHEREBY MATERIAL SWEPT BY THE FLEXIBLE BLADES MAY BE SIMULTANEOUSLY SIDE DELIVERED BY THE OBLIQUE BLADE SURFACES AND IMPELLED LATERALLY TOWARD SAID ONE END OF THE SHAFT. 